Before describing the device or the present art, some background on the sport of golfing is necessary. Much attention has been paid in the game of golf in the development of a proper swing. To hit a ball squarely without an inward "hook" or an outward "slice" it is necessary for the golfer to hold his head substantially motionless and to fix his eyes upon the ball, during the back-swing, the swing, and part of the follow through. What happens is that many golfers, including professionals, fail to exercise proper head control during the various phases of the swing, permitting their head to move out of sync with the swing and their eyes to wander.
In addition, the back swing should be controlled to prevent an excessive back swing which would pull the eyes off the ball. Also, during the swing, the body should pivot with the spinal column as an axis.
As noted in the September 1992 issue of GOLF Magazine, page 84, pertaining to head movement during a golf swing, the golfer's head may move, but the left eye should be focused upon the ball. Therefore, moving one's head, contrary to popular belief, is desirable, as long as the less dominant eye stays focusing on the golf ball, as the head and neck move.
Moreover, according to Jim McLean, in "Widen the Gap" in GOLF Magazine, December 1992, pages 49-53, it is also important to maximize the movement of the shoulders during a golf swing. By doing so, the more the shoulders move, the more the head moves and the greater the tendency is to loose visual contact with the golf ball.
The most important point to be emphasized in the above discussion is the necessity to fix the eyes upon the ball.
Various types of devices have been patented in the prior art to aid a golfer in focusing his eyes on the ball during a swing. As the game of golf is an old one, the development of sighting aids is an old art.
Any early optical device used two sighting holes in a pair of eye glass lenses (see Ramsay, "Optical Device For Use in Playing the Game of Golf or Like Ball Games". U.S. Pat. No. 1,133,921. This instrument which is in the form of a pair of pince-nez or spectacles, has a species of opaque "blinkers" with a relatively small apertures in them, through which the wearer can see. The small apertures severely limit the golfer's field of view and thus limits the view of the distance in front and behind a ball needed to strike the ball. This area is so small that the golfer must see it definitely, and this compels "keeping the eye on the ball". The device has two holes in the opaque lenses, one in each eyepiece, both of which are located along the center meridian. In the left eyepiece, the hole is to the left of center, and the hole in the right eyepiece is to the right of center.
An optical sighting device using a large hole in the left eyepiece (See McMurdo "Glasses" U.S. Pat. No. 2,045,399), had as one configuration, a large vertical rectangular hole in the left spectacle lens. The remainder of the left lens, along with the entire right lens, was entirely opaque.
A later version of the Ramsay patent had two narrow vertical slots in each lens (see Douglass, "Optical Device For Golf Instruction" U.S. Pat. No. 2,663,021. The eye glass lenses were opaque, and in one configuration, the narrow rectangular slots were centered in each lens. A second configuration described in the patent had the narrow slits inward of the center of the two lenses.
Another sighting aide used circular rings painted on the eye glass lenses (see Hull, "Golfing Aide", U.S. Pat. No. 3,228,696. Two distinct configurations were given in the patent of Hull. One configuration had the circular rings painted on clear lenses. The other configuration, which was for when sunglasses were used as a means of supporting the sights and positioning them before the eyes of a golfer, disclosed tinted sun glasses in which the tint is graded from top to bottom, becoming lighter at the bottom edge of the lens. In the device of Hull, the sighting rings are located near to the bottom center close to the frame.
A variation of the McMurdo sighting glasses used two rectangular holes in the upper portion of the two opaque lenses (see Novack, "Head Movement Control Device for Golfers" U.S. Pat. No. 3,268,228). In one variation of the art, the right eyepiece has a rectangular hole in the upper portion, being longer vertically than horizontally, and a larger square hole for the left eye piece. In the second type of sighting device, Novack teaches a "T" shaped hole in the upper portion of the eye piece, with a vertical for the left eye, and the stem of the "T" square shaped for the right eye piece.
Still another variation of the art used a horizontal line across the eyepiece in both eyes as a sighting aid (see Palumbo, "Golf Putt Aligning Device" U.S. Pat. No. 3,264,002, (1966). Palumbo teaches a dark horizontal line across the upper portion of the sighting device. In a second version, Palumbo teaches spectacles that have a solid wire type sighting located across the front of the sighting glasses, but on extenders from the temples, several inches in front of the frame. The linear sighting element is movable so the distance from the front of the lenses can be set by the user. In the Palumbo device, the eyepiece is transparent.
Eighty percent of right handed golfers are right eyed dominant. A right handed golfer must look at the ball with his left eye. A simple test can be performed to find out which eye is dominant. One takes an 81/2.times.11 inch piece of paper and put a hole 1/4 inch diameter in the center. One gets a golf ball and puts it on the floor as if one is going to tee off. While holding the paper with one's arms extended over the ball with both eyes open, one simply closes one's right eye. If the ball disappears, one is right eye dominant. The present invention helps train one's left eye to stay focused on the ball. Moreover, it is disadvantageous to keep one's head truly still during the swing. Some head movement is necessary and, in fact, helpful. Freezing the head results in leaving one's weight on the left side and awkward reverse pivoting. The device of the present invention, the light tinted area the helps one perceive and pick the ball up visually and focus on it until viewing it becomes automatic.
Most important, it is not both eyes that pick and focus on the ball, but rather one's left eye for a right handed player.